It had already been a long day before EXO returned to their dorm, and Luhan really just wanted to shower and then fall into bed. He and his bandmates all stumbled blearily through the front door and scattered off to complete various before-bed preparations. Luhan stalked to his room and dug his shower things, fresh boxers, a t-shirt, and his towel from the pile that seemed to be constantly growing at the foot of his bed. Being an idol was an amazing and fun experience, but it didn’t really leave much time for tidying or anything of the sort. That is to say, it could be sort of confining. Truth be told, Luhan was pretty sure he was in love, but because he was a member of EXO, and the person he was interested in was a guy, confessing wouldn’t be something he could ever take lightly. Items for his shower in hand, these thoughts momentarily consumed him. He stared into space, his wide doe-eyes squinting slightly with the effort of trying to avoid such musings.

    “Hyung....Did you forget something?” Lay, Luhan’s roommate, asked kindly. Preferring to shower in the morning, Lay had already finished brushing his teeth and was now flopped face-down on his bed, face turned towards Luhan.

    “No. It’s nothing.” Luhan said quickly, a little embarrassed at his spacey behaviour. Lay was so nice and understanding that Luhan almost wanted to explain his recent moodiness and lack of attention to the world around him, but at the same time....Well....It probably wouldn’t do any good.

    Luhan his heel and walked straight across the hall into the large bathroom the twelve boys shared. It was sort of convenient being right across the hall from the bathroom, but Lay and Luhan both agreed that watching and listening to everyone going in and out at all hours of the day and night was a little annoying. Surprisingly, the bathroom appeared to be empty. Usually, at least two other people were brushing their teeth or using one of the shower stalls, but Luhan wasn’t complaining at being left alone. Dropping his clothes and towel on the long wooden bench that ran down the middle of the bathroom between the toilet stalls and the shower stalls, he grabbed his shampoo and soap and yanked aside one of the shower curtains. Flinging his towel over the curtain-rod, he lazily the warm water and let it soak away the fatigue of a long, long, long day.  Unfortunately, the unusual silence provided him with a perfect opportunity to lament his pathetic love life.

He couldn’t remember exactly when this had all started, but it might have been that one night last July. It had been unusually hot, and the airconditioning was out when he’d woken up in the middle of the night sweating and thirsty. He’d stumbled out of his room, hair sticking up in all directions from sweat and his tossing and turning, and suddenly noticed Sehun on the couch in the living room. Sehun was apparently sleeping, and he was shirtless. Luhan had never really thought of Sehun in a romantic way until that very moment. The smooth planes of his chest rose and fell gently with every sleeping breath that passed through his soft lips. One hand was draped carelessly over his stomach and the other was stretched out over his sleep-tousled head. Long legs extending from his boxer shorts, he looked ier in his innocent state of sleep than anyone Luhan had ever seen before, and months later, even the briefest thought of Sehun on that hot summer night made Luhan lose his focus and get a little embarrassed.

That was when he began the slow, painful process of falling for Sehun. It wasn’t intentional, in fact, he’d been fighting it the whole way, but his attraction had definitely won out in the end. Luhan exhaled slowly and leaned against the tiled wall of the narrow shower. He so wanted to just go ahead and tell him. Tell him how he felt so he could get rejected properly and move on. Luhan was pretty sure Sehun was straight, or at least not interested in him. Granted, Sehun would sometimes say things or do things that made Luhan wonder if he just might....but this was the problem. The wondering. Luhan wished he could just get it over with so he could stop the damn wondering. And yet....if Sehun couldn’t handle the fact that Luhan had feelings for him, it would totally ruin their friendship. Luhan knew that he could deal with rejection as long as Sehun didn’t push him out of his life completely, but if he did....

It would kill me. Luhan thought, pushing a hand through his soaking hair, tilting his head to the side to allow the stream of hot water better access to his shoulder. I don’t care if I can’t have him as long as I still get to be near him. He ordered himself firmly. This was his mantra. In a way it was definitely true, but he still wanted so desperately to know if he had any chance, any chance at all, at a romantic relationship with Sehun. Everything the stupid boy did was endearing to Luhan now. When he acted like a brat or for looking like a shoujo-manga character or made his hyungs buy him bubble tea. It was infuriating how he could be so adorable and irritating and dead y all at the same time.

With a frustrated grunt, Luhan whipped the tap off and reached for his towel, messily drying his hair and wrapping it around his narrow waist before heading out into the main bathroom to dress. He gathered his shower supplies and had just slipped on his boxers when the door opened and Sehun himself walked in.

Fantastic. Exactly who I wanted to see right now... Luhan grumbled to himself, awkwardly turning away and ignoring the tall boy’s presence.

“Hey Luhan.” Sehun greeted him.

“Hi.” Luhan’s reply sounded a little strained, even to his own ears. He had just made up his mind to head back to his room and wait for Sehun to leave before brushing his teeth when he turned around to find Sehun stripping in the middle of the bathroom.

“Urk,” came a strangled noise out of the back of Luhan’s throat as he took in the sight of the beautiful young man before him carelessly whipping off his clothes. Blushing with embarrassment, Luhan held his bundle of clothes in front of his face and said, in a choked voice,

“God... could you at least wait for me to leave?” Sehun turned to face him, thumbs hooked into the waistband of his underwear and a curious expression on his face.

“Why?” He asked. “We’re both guys, right?” If Luhan hadn’t been so mortified, he probably would have seen the little spark of mischief in the younger boy’s eyes.

“Yeah, but still...”

“Still what? Am I embarrassing you?” Sehun removed his hands from his hips and quickly closed the gap between them to stand very close to Luhan with his arms crossed over his smooth pale chest.

Why does he have to be so freaking y? Luhan screamed to himself, desperately trying to look anywhere but at Sehun’s torso.

“Hey, Luhan-hyung. Am I embarrassing you?” Sehun repeated, slightly louder, as if Luhan hadn’t heard him the first time. A heavy silence fell between them as Luhan struggled to move his eyes off of the ceiling and meet Sehun’s without seeming flustered.

“No, I just don’t really feel like seeing you strip. Is that okay?” Luhan snipped angrily. Of course, in reality he would love nothing more than to press his lips onto every inch of skin that Sehun was exposing to him, but he certainly couldn’t let Sehun know that. In a sudden movement, Sehun shoved him lightly backwards against a wall and caged him against it by planting one hand on either side of Luhan’s shoulders.

“Am I embarrassing you now?” He asked coyly, his face inches away from Luhan’s own. Luhan turned bright red, fixing his eyes on his feet.

“Yes. You are. Now please move.” He stuttered angrily. Why wouldn’t Sehun just let him leave? This was torture.

“Am I still embarrassing you?” Sehun asked again, pinching Luhan’s chin between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand and forcing him to meet his eyes. “Aw, look. You’re blushing like a pretty little princess.” He quipped teasingly. Luhan couldn’t take any more of this. If Sehun stayed this close to him for much longer, he was just going to shove his tongue down Sehun’s throat and ruin their relationship forever.

“Leave me alone!” Luhan yelled, shoving Sehun off of him. “Why do you always have to tease me like that!? You’re awful!” He spat, slamming out of the bathroom and closing the door behind him. Out in the hall, he leaned against the bathroom door for support and groaned.

Great. Now he thinks I hate him. Stupid brat. Where does he come off acting like that? I shouldn’t have yelled at him....but what else could I do? I would have molested him in another minute if he hadn’t moved. God. I’m so stupid. Being in love . Luhan moaned inwardly, gently banging the back of his head against the door.

Inside the bathroom, Sehun was now sitting on the long wooden bench with his head in his hands.

I am such an . He reprimanded himself. I can’t believe I was so mean to him. He’ll never forgive me for that now. And how could he ever like me back after I pulled a stunt like that?! It’s his fault for being so damn cute, but I should have more self-control. . He stood up and shook his head violently before flinging off his underwear and stomping into the shower.

Outside, Luhan was just stepping through his open bedroom door. Lay was still on his bed, but now absorbed in a book. He looked up when Luhan walked in.

Lay had actually seen Sehun follow Luhan into the bathroom and had heard most of their interaction inside before watching Luhan pouting in the hallway just a minute earlier.  He knew that Luhan had been acting increasingly spacey and weird around Sehun since late summer and that Sehun had been cheekier than usual around Luhan and more serious around everyone else....Oh. He suddenly thought, eyes widening. I get it now. So they like each other...And neither one knows about the other... that’s tough. Should I say something? He looked over at Luhan who had buried his face in a pillow and was obviously trying not to freak out. Maybe they’ll figure it out on their own. I’ll give them a chance for now.  He finally decided and clicked off his light.